What About Nico?
by Phelpsgirlxxx
Summary: Will Solace was angry. They were meant to be Nico's friends! Hell, Hazel was meant to be his sister! Yet, it seemed as if no one cared about the poor Italian boy. Will wasn't having that.


**AN: I have been rereading a lot of the Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson universe books over the past couple of weeks when I have had time. I don't even want to go into how much I love the Solangelo pairing.**

 **Also to be honest I think there is definitely going to be a sequel or two at some point :)**

 **Please read and leave a review.**

 **Disclaimer: This all belongs to Rick Riordan.**

" I told you, no more Underworldly stuff, doctor's order. You owe me at least three days of rest in the infirmary. Starting now."

" Three days? I-I suppose that would be okay."

Nico scampered off to talk to Percy and Annabeth, and the son of Apollo watched him with curious eyes. Will frowned as he looked at the son of Hades. Medically, the boy was lucky to be alive. Just from keen healer eyes, Will could already see the exhaustion and malnourishment of the fourteen year old. How the boy was still walking was a medical phenomenon.

Nico made his way back over to Will, and he had to force himself to not grab him by the hand and lead him to the infirmary.

" This has to be your first trip to the infirmary, right?" Will asked Nico as they walked.

" Er... yeah, I think so."

" As I don't think you're in any serious, like imminent danger, I'm going to make a sort of medical file for you."

" Okay."

" It's just a routine thing. Don't worry."

" Okay, I'm not sure how much I can really remember..." Nico trailed off.

" Well, we'll try and remember what we can, how's that?" Will asked with a smile.

Nico couldn't tell if Will was trying to patronise him, but as the boy continued to chirp at him as they walked, he assumed that perhaps maybe it was just the nature of the sun of Apollo.

They entered the infirmary and Will led him to a quieter section of the infirmary.

" Get into the bed you, I'll be back in two minutes. Okay?"

" Yes."

Will looked at the solemn boy who was staring at the bed, looking slightly aprehensive.

Will sighed. The kid really needed a hug, from everything that it was rumoured that Nico had seen, how in Hades the boy still acted strong was beyond comprehension. Most people would be shaken to their very core, and yet Nico seemed to be in a bubble, a self inflicted one, to protect himself from the outside world. To save him from hurt.

Hell, Nico was 12? 13?

In actuality, Will had no idea how old he was. Nico was clearly malnourished amongst other things, and it made it impossible to correctly guess the age of the Italian boy.

Will grabbed a form from the desk at the front of the infirmary and practically skipped back to where Nico was laid.

In his hurry to rush back to his friend, he missed his sister Kayla's knowing smirk at the enthusiasm her brother showed towards conversing with Nico.

" Okay Nico, you all settled?"

Nico nodded stiffly.

" Okay, date of birth?"

" 28th of January."

" Year?"

" 1928."

Will dropped his pen in shock and hurriedly picked it up.

" I'm sorry, what?"

" 1928."

" How is that even possible?"

" Is that a question on the sheet?"

" No, but..."

" What's next?"

" Okay, right, erm just the basic stuff. Place of birth?"

" Venice."

" Right. Next of kin?"

" Hazel."

" Is she your-" Will paused, stopping himself. It wasn't the best of ideas to ask a demigod about their mortal parents as often their relationships were strained or they were dead.

" Hazel." Nico repeated firmly.

" Okay."

" What vaccinations have you had? I imagine not many. I mean if you were born in 1928 and you were, erm- how old you were you when you went wherever and didn't age?"

" 10. I'm 14 now."

" Okay."

The two continued for another ten minutes with Nico just giving one word answers at best, and sometimes just plainly ignoring Will's questions.

" We need to do a physical. Can you take your shift off?"

Nico stared at him wide eyed.

" What now Solace?"

" Please may you take your shirt off. I need to see if there's anything that needs healing."

Nico's eyes blazed with fury as he slowly removed his shirt.

Will nearly vomited when he saw the state of Nico's torso. Will had seen many things since he first became a healer, and yet even overseeing the birth of Coach Hedge's baby didn't make him feel as ill.

Nico was littered with scars some of them prominent and red, some faded, and some clearly infected. The worst were some scars that seemed to be hastily stitched and were seeping pus and a bit of blood.

" Jesus Nico."

" Jesus, really? I've never heard a demigod say Jesus."

" That's your issue right now? You have infected cuts. How are you still awake?"

" I have high pain tolerance."

" For Gods sake! Who in the name of Hades stitched these?"

" Reyna."

Will pinched the top of his nose and sighed. He swept his blond hair out of his face before he opened the cupboard next to Nico's bed.

" I'm going to have to cut these out. It's going to be incredibly painful. Do you want me to knock you out?"

Nico bit his lip.

He really didn't want to feel any more pain, he was in utter agony as it was and he didn't think he'd make it without passing out. However, he didn't want to appear weak.

" Nico?"

Nico's brown eyes made contact with Will's azure blue ones.

" You're not weak. The fact you are even still awake with the amount of pain you are in is incredible. You won't appear weak if you do want to be knocked out. Actually, you'd be stupid to not consider it."

" Okay."

" Great."

In no time at all, Nico was passed out in the bed and Will was carefully healing the ordinary cuts and soaking the infected ones with antibiotic cream in order to try and stop them from seeping and to make the pinched red skin around them heal and not be as inflamed.

" Oh Neeks, I hope you don't just leave. I want to look after you. Please let yourself be loved." Will whispered quietly as he ran a hand through Nico's toussled black hair.

When Nico woke up in the early hours of the morning, he was alone. He hissed in pain as he moved, but he carefully grabbed his shoes, planning to make his escape from the infirmary, at least until the morning. He would come back before Will even realised he had gone.

What Nico hadn't counted on was that Austin, Will's brother was awake and making sure that all the demigods within the infirmary were sleeping fine.

" Nico Di Angelo, where on Earth do you think you're going?!" He whispered with intense fury.

" I-I, erm well, you see..."

" Get back into your bed this moment. You are sick."

" I'm fine."

" Do you want me to wake Will? He has a list of everything wrong with you."

" Wrong with me?"

" Medical problems."

" Right. But no, don't wake Will."

" Exactly. Get back to bed and if you don't fuss I won't tell him this happened. Got it?"

" Yes."

The sullen boy huffed slightly as he headed back to his bed and lay flat on his stomach in it. He turned his face away from Austin and scowled at how easily he had been caught.

Before he knew it, Nico was woken to a soft voice repeating his name.

" Hey, you awake Lord of Darkness?"

Nico scowled at the nickname.

" No." He snarked.

" Fine. You need to be awake though, as you need to eat."

" I'm not hungry."

" When was the last time you ate?"

Nico didn't answer.

" That's exactly what I thought. You are severly malnourished. Now eat up and I'll let you know what I found out during your physical yesterday, okay?"

Will's tone didn't leave any room for argument, so Nico just grabbed the two slices of buttered toast that Will had brought him. He also noticed a glass of milk and a bowl of fruit on the table beside his bed.

" All of it?"

" Yes." The Doctor responded firmly.

" Okay."

Nico took a bite of the toast and was surprised at how good it tasted. He couldn't remember the last time he ate properly. He had barely eaten since he got free from Tartarus. A few grapes here and there on the Argo II but apart from that...

" Right. First of this is just physical okay, mental state is a whole new issue. Don't pull that face, after what you've seen, you were the first demigod to survive Tar- that place. Not to mention everything else."

" Yeah, yeah."

" So, you're malnourished. Severely, this has stinted your growth, but to be honest there's not much we can really do about your height, you'll always be small really. You're also anemic and have a calcium deficiency and..."

Nico tuned him out. He felt guilty, but he couldn't help fidgeting in the infirmary bed and the words Will was using hurt his head."

" You got it?"

" Yes." Nico agreed, though he didn't have any idea what Will had just said or what he apparently understood.

" Good, now get some rest."

" Okay."

" I won't leave you, don't worry. Call for me if I'm not next to you, okay? I won't go far. Okay?"

" Okay."

Will reached a hand out and placed a hand on Nico's shoulder carefully for a second. He smiled as he turned away and Nico settled down into the bed.

Weeks passed, and Nico was surprised to find that he and Will had grown closer. He had left the infirmary after the three day stay, and yet Will still saw him eveyday. He sat with Nico at camp fires and sang next to him, loudly and quite out of tune.

One evening, instead of going to the camp fire, Nico confessed that he wanted to talk about what happened to him. He trusted Will enough to tell him of the horrors he had gone through.

" Are you sure you're okay to tell me Neeks?"

" I want to tell you. I trust you."

This made Will's heart swell with warmth. Nico trusted him, and he knew that he didn't even trust Hazel that much. Will knew Nico hadn't told Hazel the true nature of all the things that had happened to him.

" Okay." Will merely stated.

With that, all of the horrors that Nico had experienced exploded out of the young boy. He talked until his throat was dry and sore. He spoke with little emotion but Nico could feel the emotions lying beneath his cold exterior wanting to break free.

" I won't let you be alone anymore. Okay?" Will told him.

It was that, that reinforcement that he had a friend that caused it.

Nico's heart pounded in his chest. Someone wanted to be around him. Someone didn't flinch away from him. Will wasn't repulsed by the fact he was the son of Hades.

He had a friend. He knew he had a friend.

 _Don't get your hopes up. He says that, but he'll leave you. Everyone does. Bianca did. No one wants you around._

Nico gulped, that wasn't true. It couldn't be.

 **Will Solace is my friend.**

He repeated this in his head as a mantra. He knew the truth, Will Solace was his friend.

Will's eyes darted around Nico's face, trying to understand what he was thinking.

" What is it Neeks?"

Nico was about to protest the nickname, Will loved using it for some reason, and despite his protests Nico really loved it. He could feel his throat clogging up and his heart racing harder. His eyes were prickling.

" I-I-I..."

One tear fell from Nico's eyes and he paused, startled.

Another one followed, and then another until Nico was crying and shaking, his knees pulled up to his chest and his hands pulling at his toussled hair.

Will took a moment to realise what was happening, and without another thought he moved further onto Nico's bed and pulled the smaller boy into his lap. Nico, within the hysteria he felt, barely noticed the change of position, he just unravelled slightly and bawled into Will's chest.

" It's okay Nico. I'm here to listen. I'm not going to let you go. I am your friend Nico. I won't leave you. You can trust me."

Nico continued to cry but slowly moved and wrapped his arms around Will, finally taking some comfort. Nico still had some aversion to touch, and despite the tiny bit of physical contact that Will had initiated over the past weeks, this was more. This was an acceptance of the hug. After everything, Nico was finally letting himself go. He didn't need to be strong. He needed to grieve.

Nico finally fell asleep and Will carefully moved out from under Nico. He knew that the remaining six of the seven demigods were at camp, many of them visiting from Camp Jupiter, and he was furious at them. He knew Percy Jackson. He knew that he had been the one to make people aware that Nico was the son of Hades. He knew that Hazel, Nico's own sister hadn't cared for him as much as she should have, he didn't blame her though. She was 13, and yet he was still angry. Also the other of Nico's supposed friends. The ones who never visited him in the infirmary.

Will wasn't stupid, he was angry.

He carefully left the Hades cabin, and stormed towards the Poseidon cabin, where he knew Percy, and probably Annabeth would be.

Will was shaking with uncontrolled anger. He knew he felt more than friendly feelings to the son of Hades. Perhaps even more than attraction. He wanted to scream. He wanted to shout. He wanted to break things. He wanted to hold Nico.

He knocked loudly on the door of the Poseidon cabin and felt an angered pleasure when Hazel opened the door.

" Will, what are you doing here?"

He barged his way in, and looked at the faces of the six remaining demigods of the seven sat in the Poseidon cabin.

" Will?" Annabeth questioned.

" Will, are you okay? You looked like you're about to explode." Percy joked, and it was that, that stupid comment, that made Will explode.

" HOW THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS JUST SITTING HERE? SITTING HERE? HAPPY, LAUGHING, JOKING WHATEVER. WHEN SOMEONE WHO IS MEANT TO BE YOUR FRIEND, YOUR BROTHER IS SUFFERING!"

" What's wrong with Nico?" Hazel asked, paling.

" WHAT'S WRONG WITH NICO? WHAT'S WRONG WITH NICO? ARE YOU BLOODY KIDDING ME?"

" Calm down Will." Piper spoke, lacing her words heavily with charmspeak but it had no effect on him, and Piper gasped. There were very few reasons that charmspeak wouldn't work for her.

Clearly her Mother wanted whatever Will was saying out in the open. Her Mother agreed with Will and that meant that Will loved Nico. There was no other explanation as to why Aphrodite would stop Piper's charmspeak from working.

" CALM DOWN? DO ANY OF YOU EVEN CARE ABOUT NICO?!"

" Of course we do." Annabeth whispered, shaking slightly.

" WELL YOU HAVE A MESSED UP WAY OF SHOWING IT. YOU AND PERCY OSTRACISED HIM. HE WAS 10 AND HIS SISTER HAD JUST DIED. 10! HE WAS LEFT ALONE IN THE WORLD AND RAN, AND NONE OF YOU CARED. YOU DIDN'T TRY AND GO AFTER HIM."

" How do you know about that?" Percy whispered.

" HE TOLD ME EVERYTHING!"

" He did?" Annabeth gasped.

" YES AND HOW THE HELL HE ISN'T REPULSED BY THE SIGHT OF YOU IS BEYOND ME. ANNABETH AND PERCY YOU TURNED AGAINST HIM. HE WAS 10. HE HAD LOST THE ONLY PERSON IN THE WORLD HE CARED ABOUT AND YOU TURNED AGAINST HIM."

Annabeth and Percy remained silently. They knew they had messed up.

" Will-" Frank began.

" LIKE YOU CAN SPEAK. FRANK, JASON, PIPER?! WHAT THE HELL. HE WAS SUFFERING AND YOU DIDN'T HELP HIM. HE DIDN'T EAT, HE DIDN'T SLEEP AND NO ONE CARED. YOU JUST LET HIM BE. HE WAS EMOTIONALLY UNSTABLE! HE HAD JUST GOT OUT OF CAPTIVITY AND TARTARUS."

They gulped.

" We're sorry." Piper whispered, her face ashen.

" You all better be!"

" We are! We truly are." Hazel sobbed as Frank brought his arms around her.

" You better apologise to Nico. I might not be as much of a threat, I am not a massively experienced sword fighter. But I know enough. Don't-" Will took a deep breath, " apologise to Nico. Just- just do it."

With that, Will stormed out of the Poseidon cabin.

There was a small crowd outside of it, clearly having been able to hear the commotion.

" What was that about?" Connor Stoll asked.

" I couldn't make any of it out." Clarisse added.

Will's eyes glinted dangerously.

He didn't answer any of their questions, but instead made his way back to his suffering friend in cabin 13. He didn't want him to wake up alone. As he entered the cabin and saw the sleeping face of his friend, with dry tear tracks down it, Will knew.

Will was in love with his best friend. Will was in love with Nico Di Angelo.


End file.
